By Rick Assad
By learning at each step of her athletic journey, former Burroughs High girls’ water polo standout Clarisa Robles was better prepared to be the very best player she is capable of.
“High school water polo for me was all about absorbing information from all the coaches I have had and trying new things to see what works,” said the junior at California Lutheran University who is majoring in education in liberal studies and is on the women’s water polo team. “In college I am able to take all the skills that I learned and implement them into the way that I play.”
Robles continued her thought: “The fundamentals of the game are very important and when you practice them repeatedly, it’s hard for people to shut you down in the pool,” she added.
Initially, Robles, who was named the Coaches’ Award winner as a senior and tabbed All Pacific League first team, was going to play water polo at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, but that didn’t work out.
Robles then decided to return to Southern California where she enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College where she played water polo and softball.
After two years at LAVC, Robles, who was a Scholar-Athlete as a sophomore and senior, found Cal Lutheran hospitable.
“I’ve only been at Cal Lutheran for a semester, but so far I love being on this team because they welcomed me with open arms, and everyone makes me feel loved and included on this team,” she said. “We do a lot of team bonding which I love because I get to have a mini family away from mine with me at school where we get to play the sport we all love.”
Playing three years at the varsity level in high school has made Robles, immensely better.
“Playing water polo in high school definitely helped me at the next level because I was able to come into college with a lot of fundamental knowledge which assisted me with my training,” she said. “I also started club a lot later than most, but even with that little time I learned a ton from my coaches and my teammates which definitely shaped me into the player I am today.”
In time, Robles, who as a sophomore was named the Burroughs Offensive Player of the Year, had to decide which sport she would concentrate on.
“I chose water polo because of the culture that surrounds the sport. I played softball all my life but started playing water polo when I was eight and since then fell in love with it,” she pointed out. “Though I did play softball at Valley College for a bit, I truly did it because I was having fun playing it, but water polo is a sport that I love to play.”
Martin Ortega Jennison has been around the Burroughs water polo programs as a coach for many years and noted that Robles was a perfect teammate.
“She was always very supportive and helped foster a great team culture,” said the boys’ and girls’ head coach. “She was an extremely hard worker and always put the team first. She always brought an intensity and competitiveness that raised the team up.”
From a tender age, Robles liked swimming and being on the water polo team was a natural fit.
“When I finished doing swim lessons as a little girl, I knew that I wanted to stay in the water as a sport whether that be swim team or water polo,” she explained. “My dad brought me to a swim practice, and I was immediately overwhelmed, so we waited for that practice to be over to watch water polo practice and I knew that was what I wanted to do. Ever since then I always enjoyed learning new things about water polo and bettering my game.”
When getting physically and mentally prepared for a match, Robles has a routine.
“On the day of a game I usually just like to get my mind ready to play a game by listening to my playlist that I’ve had since high school,” she stated. “I also like to talk to my parents (Jose and Marianna) on the day of a game because they are always giving me words of encouragement and I know that they will be there to watch and cheer me on.”
The bigger matches seem to stand out more than the others for Robles, who was named the junior varsity’s Most Valuable Player as a freshman.
“My high school highlight was probably my sophomore year beating Crescenta Valley at the Pacific League tournament because it had been a ten-plus year streak of Burroughs varsity losing to CV varsity and it was a cool moment to know that we broke that streak,” she said. “That team was very special, and we did a lot of great things that season.”
The road to where she’s at currently has been eye-opening for Robles and having that occasional poor outing has been a learning tool and has helped her bounce back even stronger and better.
“After difficult games I usually rewatch the film to see my mistakes and at the next practice when we are working on the skill that I may have messed up on I really focus on how to improve it,” she acknowledged. “When the team lost, we would all talk about the game and then move on from it to focus on our next game because we knew we couldn’t change the outcome of it.”
